Where I live no Wildlife is considered dangerous so I've not gained near the experience as others have that live among Bears, Moose, Wolves, or large African game as Lions, Tigers etc. Experience can be the best teacher whether it be knowing how to react around certain animals or performing editing skills on a computer. There is much experience here with both.
I've tried to gain experience with Moose, and both the Black and Grizzly Bear, learned a lot from being around local people that are familiar with the animals as well as observing many of them on my own. Once camped in Ontario, late May, for 10 days where we hunted Black bear, soon learned that Bears can move extremely fast, it is difficult to carry one a quarter mile out of the bush, it is easy to get cold, wet and eaten alive by swarms of bugs. Some Mosquitoes appeared the size of Eagles and took a good amount of blood from me in those 10 days.
I do have a lot of experience with livestock, mainly beef cattle and swine and have seen first hand what can happen when things go bad. The speed and strength animals have, can and will tip the scales in their favor if they decide to hurt you. Almost every year I will cull a couple cows because they have become difficult to handle. We ear tag new born calves and it can become dangerous fast. The older I get the less I like doing this as my reactions are much slower than 20 years ago.
I've lost two neighbors that were trying to assist cows with their calves. Randy had ribs puncture his lungs when a cow head butted him, he had time to make one call for help on his cell phone, he was found dead 15 minutes later. My friend Vic lived for 7 days but never came out of a coma after a cow knocked him down causing his head to hit a concrete feeding floor. At the time Vic raised purebred Angus, competed at the fair and was proud that most of his cattle could be halter broke in a short time. I've had a couple broken bones, a lot of bruises, several cuts, kicked hundreds of times by cattle, pinned against corral panels and ran over leaving nice black and blue hoof prints on my back, never was really scared but it's not a whole lot of fun either.
If we think getting hit by a 275 lb lineman playing football is painful just give some thought to multiplying that number by 2, 3,4 5,6,7,8,9 and then allow them to bite as fair play. The largest Bull I ever sold weighed 2605 lbs but I feared him far less than my 12-1300 lb cows. They are not only quicker, less predictable but foremost they are mothers and protecting their young is predictable.
I've made these comments in hopes to raise awareness, be aware of your experience with wildlife and the elements you may be photographing in. I think all animals sense fear if it is there and can react accordingly. A situation that may be safe for one photographer just may not be for another.
